Rating: 
Summary: Huge disappointment; Be wary of listening to reviewers
Review: What an awful book. I bought it entirely on the basis of recommendations from Amazon readers.It is one-sided politically, never examining negative consequences of the Truth Machine. The One-World Government garbage at the end gets old in a hurry. The author basically says that the Truth Machine has ensured world peace and happiness, but he's skimpy with the details. The characters are jokes--eventually I started rooting for the evil Charles Scoggins just because he was the only realistic (i.e., non-angelic) character. The writing is awful. Sorry, James, the fact that it is written by a "computer" doesn't make it better.
Rating: 
Summary: Makes you feel like the future is unfolding before your eyes
Review: This book has it all...murder, corruption, political debate, etc. The characters are real and the events unfold in a logical progression. As you read each chapter, there is a blurb on the "news of the time." It takes a conscious effort to realize you are not reading the "history" of the future. Halperin has not taken a time machine forward and reported back to us; although one might think he knows what lies ahead............... This is a must read!
Rating:
Summary: Engrossing read, with good ideas for the future
Review: A fun guess at one possible scenario of the next sixty years or so. Wishful thinking on some good legislation that would potentially pass in the next twenty years. Characters of book are thin, and writing is certainly not world class, but it's entertaining anyway. Some great ideas of helpful legislation for our country - legal and other reforms.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, marvelous, extraordinary, remarkable, etc.
Review: If everyone read this book, perhaps the world would be a better place. I think it was the best book I have ever read. Halperin explores what could possibly be "the perfect society" in this book about the future. And the great thing about it is, it is possible that it could happen! I highly recomend this book to all citizens of earth!
Rating:
Summary: The Truth Machine is False...
Review: I actually rate this book a minus five, since it is very fascist and chock full of immature prejudices. It failed on several siginificant levels -- unless James meant the novel as a satire on what the ruling class envisions for the future. However, treating my review as if JLH had written the novel with no attempt to make it a scathing and thoroughly unpleasant satirical treatise (ala a very dark version of Gulliver's Travels), I find the characters extremely irritating; not one of them is worthy to be called human. They are immature, greedy and extremely nazi-like in their attitude towards God and their fellow man. More like hyperactive weasels! It also is a tremendous turnoff to hear the author extoling the virtues of a future that embraces euthanasia for the old, feeble, sick, imperfect, etc., by embracing Jack Kevorkian's viewpoint. (Another clue which leads me to believe Halperin is actually delivering a satirical message here?) In addition, not one characte! r seems to be motivated by genuine love. If any were portrayed as being married and having kids, they were depicted like bright-eyed ferrets both in joyous viciousness and pride, yet no real sevidence of any depth of feelings as humans. (Another hint as to its satirical intent?) This novel doesn't just push the envelope of credibility too well, it bursts this overblown sack of puss with its own pretentiousness and overall rancid air of superiority. The Truth Machine is also way too jingoistic, escpecially in its assumption that the USA is the most morally superior country in the world, with thoroughly moral and righteous government leaders. Rather, it should present a more truthful viewpoint -- that many foreign powers hate our fascist guts because we've frequently invaded and slaughtered their brown people for economic gains, in many devasting and futile wars designed to destabilize their economies and solidify the slave labor that will make our products for 15ยข/hour.Oh, and hey, the plot? Well ... The plot is almost nonexi! stent, if not diaphanously thin to begin with. And, again, the characters (as also observed by other reviewers on this great web page) are too perfect ... except for the fact that they all appear to be shallowly brilliant, if not outright dangerous psychotics solely concerned with their own wealth and manipulative powers. The characters collectively view humanity as a resource commodity to cultivate and prune according to their private whims. (Hmmm ... is this yet another hint as to the novel actually being a satirical work, who knows?)Yet if the novel is really intended as a satire, it is literarily too dull, humorless, and irritating to actually be an enjoyable read. I do not enjoy following the POV of some self-centered jerk; and I doubt most people enjoy such an experience either. Hence the novel, if intended to satirize the inhumanity of a technocratic society, rings too false by not having any characters of any salutary morals in it to narrate this repulsive view! of a technocratic future, at least to actually appreciate it from this venue (i.e., where's Gulliver?). Hence, "The Truth Machine" comes out false as a quality piece of satirical fiction because we're forced to witness the unfolding of a story through the POV of several thoroughly despicable characters.
Rating: 
Summary: Does the one thing a good book MUST do: makes you think.
Review: I find the negative reviews of this book amusing. I am endlessly astonished at the number of people who seem to believe that you must agree with what a book says in order to like it. Does this book have flaws? Of course it does. Is it nevertheless a great novel? Beyond question. This is an absolutely riveting story. It does what speculative fiction is supposed to do: it stipulates a watershed event of some kind (technological or otherwise), and then explores its possible effects on human existence. Some of the changes Halperin imagines are extremely plausible. Others are more far-fetched. But all are profound, and whether you agree or disagree with the ideas set forth in this book, you'll find it engaging, stimulating, and relentlessly thought-provoking. (Unless you're one of those people described in the first paragraph above, in which case why did you even read this far?)
Rating: 
Summary: Great premise, adequate book, ridiculous epilogue...
Review: While the snippets of proposed News Headlines from the viewpoint of a journalistic computer are interesting and entertaining, they also give a potential reader a limited amount of time to read this book before his progressively moribund predictions of mass murder and terrorism become amusingly out of date (when I started reading this book, 17000 Hutus were supposed to be sentenced to death). Of course, if these predictions were simply plot devices to drive the need for a Truth Machine, then I would commend Halperin for cleverly detailing a future that is bleak and frightening. But no, Halperin considers his piece of adequate fiction far to important for humanity. He truly believes that while his specific predictions won't necessarily come true, we are definitely heading for a world of thermonuclear terrorism and water supply poisoning. In his self-serving epilogue called "Is there a Truth Machine in Your Future?" he states that in order for mankind to survi! ve, we just may have to make lying impossible. And the best means to that end, apparently, is to ask readers to act as multilevel marketers by pushing his first sci-fi novel at bookstores and libraries. He even suggests that the reader send a copy to their congressperson, facilitating a debate of a world based on the Truth Machine (to which he promises the reader a personalized thank-you note). What self-serving tripe! Halperin's predictions are supposed to support the theme that modern society in every country will be overwhelmingly and consistently obsessed with stopping crime and terrorism. In truth, people have always been fickle about what is society's greatest concern, so he feels the need to propose an extremely dangerous future. However, Halperin still fails at convincing me that millions will stupefyingly embrace a society where the second offense of a violent crime leads to a quick trial, one quick appeal, and death. Didn't buy that. Society today can't even! jump on the "3 strikes and you're out," "Me! gan's Law" or "Hate Crime" bandwagons without continuously debating their worth, even after implementation. The characters are achingly 2-dimensional (Diana's classroom lamentation of an old friend's betrayal and death of AIDS is "made-for-TV-movie" pathetic), and they are too easily swayed into believing that a Truth Machine would be a godsend, simply because it came from the mind of that lovable genius, Pete Armstrong. The other credulous protagonists eventually become supporters of a World Government because, hey, Pete said so. OK, some good points: The book is at it's best when the villain, and fellow genius, Scoggins, is conniving and negotiating his way into Nick's limelight. How the hero responds to Scoggins threats, how he justifies exempting himself from the effects of the Truth Machine, and how this eventually leads to his only crimes are about the most compelling and believable parts of the book. Yes, Haperin also provides some very! thought-provoking insights on the value of a world free of lies. Halperin has succeeded in provoking discussion on the merits of a Truth Machine, as you can see from both the glowing and critical reviews. But that does not necessarily make great fiction. It didn't here, anyway.
Rating:
Summary: Should Become the Futurist Bible
Review: Recommended by a well-read friend, The Truth Machine is without a doubt the first truly objective work of prophetic fiction. This is one of the best and most important books I have ever read.
Rating:
Summary: One of a Kind - Too bad the movie won't do it justice....
Review: What a thought-provoking book this was. As I tried to think of an appropriate category for this first novel, I realized there isn't one. It's truth, it's fiction and what is the difference, really? I particularly enjoyed the snippets of "news" at the beginning of each chapter - what a riot some of them were, and how terrifying some of the others could be in our own future. I'm hoping against hope that the movie will be good - Mr Halperin, if you're listening, make sure Hollywood does this right.
Rating:
Summary: A good story with a very interesting idea for the future
Review: Not extrememly realistic, but eventually believable, this story tells about a Gates-like character who invents a 100% reliable lie detector and the result it has on the world. It's intriguing to read of the causes and effects Halperin writes for the world's twists and turns of the future. Reading this book is like getting your hands on the next 50 years worth of newspapers... what will you think of THIS future?
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